The radio industry united with one goal on Friday – to cover the reaction to the death of Michael Jackson as best as it possibly can.
At the time of his death, most radio stations in the UK were in automation, but thanks to remote control technology and dedicated staff, even the smallest of radio stations were able to change their output to reflect the situation.
However the stations which were staffed really stood out on the dial with special reports, live links and continuous Michael Jackson songs.
But on Friday, the story was at the forefront of every radio station in the world. Here in the UK, we've heard from the following stations and individuals about their activity:
* Oxfordshire's JACK fm changed its name to JACK-O fm and played nothing by MJ songs all day
* GMG Radio hosted special news programmes on Real Radio, plus an hour long special on the Smooth Radio network, and is broadcasting an hour long documentary at 7pm on Sunday
* Star Radio Bristol held a one hour special looking back at his life and his music
* The Quay programme controller was on route to America at the time, and turned his holiday into an on the spot reporting job from outside the hospital
* The team at Totally 80s, the syndicated commercial radio show, worked all night to ensure a special King of Pop version was sent to all stations
* Radio presenter [link=http://www.kevinhughes.net/]Kevin Hughes[/link] appeared on Sky News to respond to rumours of his death.
* BBC 1Xtra's MistaJam will host a 2 hour journey through his music and life on Saturday at 7pm
* Community station Indigo FM hosted a two hour special on Friday afternoon
* Guildford student station GU2 played the entire Thriller album between 7 and 9pm on Friday
On Sunday, the Top 40 show is expected to reflect the extra purchases of Michael Jackson songs on iTunes, with already 30 percent of the chart featuring songs by the King of Pop.
Justin Kings has also wrote an interesting blog on the subject, which can be found [link=http://newsleadermediaconsultancy.blogspot.com/2009/06/jacko-fm.html]here[/link].
